Teaching methods for international R&D project management Blazenka Divjak, Sandra Katarina Kukec * University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics, Pavlinska 2, 42000 Varazdin, Croatia Received 24 January 2008; accepted 24 January 2008 Abstract This paper presents a case study of teaching project management in Croatia in two different learning environments and points out two main paradigms upon which both courses are designed. These two paradigms are most effective learning is working in real-life situations and teach them what you promised and students will respond with effort. We point out similarities in teaching methods but also the dif- ferences in motivation and achieved levels of knowledge and skills. Implementation of e-learning has been made according to the set objectives for each course. Follow up of students’ satisfaction level and personal development has regularly been assessed. Ó 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. Keywords: International projects; R&D projects; Teaching methods; Learning outcomes 1. Introduction We write this paper from the point of view of teaching the following target groups: professionals studying in life long learning programs and students at postgraduate stud- ies. The accent is on teaching these target groups interna- tional R&D project management. At the beginning we set two paradigms for teaching pro- ject management. 1. Most effective learning is working in real-life situations Group work on an actual real-life project is the main teaching instrument since groups act as project teams and the project ideas are close to their field of professional interest. Additionally, playing different roles in the project life cycle and learning to cross disciplinary borders enable stu- dents to gain self-assurance in project management. The roles which one can take on in a project can be in a wide range from strategic decision makers, project leaders and scientific coordinators to project managers, team members, reviewers or sponsors. Inclusion of interdisciplinary knowl- edge is needed, like data mining, decision making, finance and accounting, mathematical graph theory, modelling, ICT, etc. 2. Teach them what you promised and students will respond with effort This includes defining very clear learning outcomes and introducing quality culture in the whole process of teaching and learning. The responsibility for the quality of the course is shared between teachers and students. What is more, learning outcomes of the course have to be synchro- nized with the learning outcomes of the whole program and the assessment must be proven to measure the learning outcomes. Additionally, there is also a constant follow up on the satisfaction of participants through questionnaires, pub- lishing of evaluation results and concrete steps taken towards improvement. Teaching must have a strong support in ICT, which must be available constantly. Additionally to the teaching 0263-7863/$34.00 Ó 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.01.003 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +385 42390825; fax: +385 42201162. E-mail addresses: blazenka.divjak@foi.hr (B. Divjak), sandra.kukec@ foi.hr (S.K. Kukec). www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman Available online at www.sciencedirect.com International Journal of Project Management 26 (2008) 251–257